Everyone knows that red dates are a great health food, but how to eat them is a matter of great importance. If red dates are carelessly paired with other taboo foods, it can lead to major problems. The editor shares a guide to red date taboos to tell you not to eat red dates this way!
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Many people know that red dates have many health benefits, but do you know the taboos associated with them?
1. Red dates + green onions can easily lead to indigestion.
Red dates nourish the spleen and stomach, and green onions can stimulate the secretion of digestive fluids. However, combining the two can lead to disharmony between the spleen and stomach, easily causing indigestion. Furthermore, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, green onions are considered a pungent and heat-producing food, and red dates are also sweet, pungent, and heat-producing. Eating them together can easily increase internal heat.
2. Red dates + sea crab can easily lead to cold-heat illness.
Sea crab and red dates are considered to conflict with each other; eating them together can easily lead to cold-heat illness. You should wait at least 2 hours before eating the other.
3. Red dates + animal liver destroys vitamins.
Animal liver is rich in elements like copper and iron. These metal ions can easily oxidize the vitamin C in other foods, rendering it ineffective. Therefore, red dates should not be eaten with animal liver at the same time.
4. Red dates + fish + green onions eaten together can cause indigestion.
Red dates are neutral in nature and can nourish the spleen and stomach, and replenish qi and blood. Eating them with fish and green onions can lead to indigestion. Therefore, it is best not to eat red date ribbonfish congee made with red dates, fish, and green onions.
5. Red dates + catfish can lead to hair loss.
Catfish and red dates eaten together can lead to hair loss, which can be neutralized by crab. Therefore, you should not eat catfish when consuming red dates.
6. Red dates + silverfish can cause pain in the waist and abdomen.
Silverfish is extremely nutritious, with benefits such as moistening the lungs to relieve cough, strengthening the spleen and stomach, benefiting the lungs, and promoting urination. However, silverfish cannot be eaten with (dried) dates, otherwise it can cause pain in the waist and abdomen.
7. Red dates + milk affects protein absorption.
After eating dates, do not immediately eat high-protein foods, such as dairy products. Because vitamin C can cause the protein in these two foods to clump together, making it difficult to absorb. Therefore, you should wait 1-2 hours after eating dates before consuming high-protein foods.
8. Red dates + Scrophularia root have conflicting functions.
Scrophularia root has excellent effects of clearing heat, reducing fire, and detoxifying, and can prevent and alleviate conditions like fever and sore throat. As it is a cold-natured food, it can prevent and treat warm-heat diseases. Red dates are sweet and warm in nature, with effects of nourishing the spleen and stomach, and replenishing qi and fluids. The functions and effects of the two are completely opposite. Therefore, Scrophularia root cannot be eaten with red dates.
9. Red dates + dried shrimp skin can cause poisoning.
Eating dried shrimp skin and red dates together can cause poisoning. Therefore, when eating red dates, you should not also consume dried shrimp skin.
10. Red dates + cucumber, radish destroy vitamins.
Red dates should not be eaten with cucumber or radish. Radish contains ascorbic acid enzyme, and cucumber contains vitamin-decomposing enzymes. Both of these components can destroy vitamins in other foods.
11. Prohibited when taking fever-reducing medicine as it affects absorption.
Consuming high-sugar foods while taking fever-reducing medicine can easily form insoluble complexes, reducing the initial absorption rate. Red dates are a high-sugar food, so they are contraindicated.
12. Should not be taken when taking bitter or carminative stomachic medicines as it affects efficacy.
Bitter and carminative stomachic medicines work by stimulating the taste organs with their bitterness, reflexively increasing the excitability of the central nervous system to food, thereby aiding digestion and increasing appetite. Taking these medicines with red dates will significantly affect the drug's efficacy.
The following 4 types of people should eat red dates sparingly or not at all:
1. Those with excessive phlegm-dampness.
Such people often exhibit a thick, greasy tongue coating, a sweet or greasy taste in the mouth, poor appetite, and a feeling of fullness in the stomach. In severe cases, symptoms may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and swelling of the eyelids and face.
The moistening and greasy nature of red dates can easily promote dampness, causing phlegm-dampness to remain in the body and be difficult to expel, thereby aggravating the above discomfort. People with this constitution are better off eating foods that strengthen the spleen and drain dampness, such as Job's tears, red beans, Chinese yam, and loofah.
2. Those who are prone to "heatiness".
This type of person has a constitution that leans towards heat, often experiencing symptoms of "heatiness" such as constipation, bad breath, and swollen gums or throat. Red dates are sweet and warm in nature, leaning towards a warming tonic. Eating them in large quantities would be like adding fuel to the fire.
3. Patients in the early stages of a cold.
In the early stages of a cold, the pathogenic factors of wind-cold or wind-heat are rampant in the body. If red dates are consumed at this time, their sticky nature can often cause these pathogenic factors to stagnate, leading to a "shutting the door to keep the thief inside" effect, making it difficult for the body to expel the pathogenic factors and hindering recovery.
4. Diabetics.
Red dates contain a high amount of sugar, which can increase blood sugar levels in diabetics and worsen their condition. Therefore, people with high blood sugar should not eat too many red dates.